Dixie Greer

Dixie Lee (Ward) Greer of Hazelwood, Missouri, died Oct. 28, 2024, marking an end to a remarkable life that touched so many others as she spread information, love, and support across generations. Dixie was many things to many people: A daughter, a sibling, a wife, a mom, an aunt, a grandmother, a cousin, a friend, a boss, a colleague, a registered dietitian, a counselor, a Sunday School teacher, a bridge partner, a neighbor, a volunteer and an unintentional comedian at times. Dixie deeply loved her family, friends, patients and her community. She also loved so many other things that brought her joy. Her love of the St. Louis Cardinals began when she was growing up in rural Oklahoma. The mighty KMOX radio signal could reach her hometown, so she and her brother became lifelong fans. When her husband had job offers in St. Louis and Colorado, her chance to be part of the hometown fanbase tipped the scales, and the family moved to the St. Louis area in 1968. Even when the Cards were terrible, Dixie was there, rooting them on and holding out hope for a late season run. She loved the other kind of cards, too, playing bridge with different groups and partners for many years. She was never competitive and just enjoyed the company and laughs shared by all. She loved country music, especially the classic country of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s – Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Pride, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rodgers and especially the queen of all things, Dolly Parton. She loved her own dogs (and she had so many) and the dogs that she and her husband helped rescue, train and place through St. Louis Sheltie Rescue. Dixie loved the Lord, and she was a lifelong Methodist and a 50+ year member of Arlington United Methodist Church in Bridgeton. There she taught Sunday School to generations of preschoolers (as a mighty threesome with Fran Simms and Sylvia Moore) and volunteered at Community Helping Ministries. She loved birds (especially cardinals), butterflies, the animals at the zoo and watching Animal Planet. She loved Christmas, angels and flowers. In her later years, as her world got smaller, she rediscovered her love of coloring, spending hours in the kitchen making amazing art to share with those who came to visit. And she discovered ways to connect with her siblings and family through Zooms weekly, making her world a little bigger again. Dixie also loved her career. In an era when wives and mothers often were discouraged from working outside the home, she demonstrated to her daughters, her granddaughters and so many other women that it was possible to be devoted to her family and community as well as a job. But it was never just a job – it was a calling. Dixie was a registered dietitian, and she loved using that knowledge to help change patients’ lives and to amaze her family with facts like the shocking levels of sodium in canned soup and how extra cheese could add protein to canned raviolis. After working as an intern in Indianapolis, Indiana, and at jobs in Columbia, Missouri, and Toledo, Ohio, Dixie went to work for the Sisters of Saint Mary’s, first at St. Joseph Hospital in St. Charles and later at St. Mary’s Hospital in Clayton. She stepped back from full-time work to work part time at SSM Health doing home health visits before fully retiring in 2009. She was actively involved with the American Dietetic Association and the Missouri Dietetic Association. Dixie was named the Missouri Dietetic Association’s Outstanding Dietitian in 1988 and was presented with the association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. Dixie Lee Greer was born Dixie Ward in Poteau, Oklahoma, on Aug. 31, 1936, to Houston E. Ward and Mable (Rhoten) Ward. The family, which eventually included five children, later moved to Hugo, Oklahoma. She graduated from Hugo High School in 1955 and remained lifelong friends with the “Hugo Girls.” Dixie went to Oklahoma State University, and the Ward family followed her there not long after. In Stillwater, she met Donald Ray Greer, the love of her life and her husband of 64 years. After graduating from Oklahoma State with a degree in nutrition and food management in 1959, she moved with Don to Columbia, Missouri, where she gave birth to her two daughters, Vicki Lea and Jennifer Dawn. After a brief stint in Toledo, Ohio, the family settled in Hazelwood, in the home where she spent her last 56 years. She later earned a master’s degree from the University of Missouri, St. Louis, in adult education, focusing on nutrition. Dixie was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband, Donald (of the home); daughters Vicki (Tucson, Arizona) and Jennifer (Richard LeComte, Lexington, Kentucky); granddaughters Rachel LeComte (Lexington), Hannah LeComte (Alexandria, Virginia) and Olivia LeComte (Hazelwood); siblings Houston Ward (Stillwater, Oklahoma), Jewell Ward (Jim Brooks, Memphis, Tennessee), Marilyn Ward (Espanola, New Mexico) and John Ward (Pam Whitney, currently roaming Europe); and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. A funeral service is scheduled for at 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 4, at Archway Memorial Chapel in Hazelwood with the Rev. Daniel Shanks presiding. For those who would like to personally say goodbye to Dixie, the casket will be open for visitation from 9 a.m. to just prior to the service. The family invites everyone to lunch and a toast to celebrate Dixie’s life from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday. Details of the lunch celebration will be provided at the chapel for all who are able to join. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for gifts in Dixie’s honor to be directed to the Friends of Imperial Crown Pet Cemetery, where her beloved shelties are buried (115 N. Highway 67, Florissant, Missouri, 63031-5901; Phone: 314-921-1558) or to the St. Louis Zoo Tribute Fund (https://stlzoo.org/give/tribute-fund).

Dixie Greer

August 31, 1936 - October 28, 2024